NATCHEZ — After more than 20 years with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and 40 years in law enforcement, Jack Smith retired from service last week.

“Some of the guys who are working here now, I worked with their daddies,” he said. “Yeah, I’ve been around a long time.”

When Smith first started in 1971, the officer said the city gave him a pair of pants and a shirt, but he had to supply the rest of his essentials in a time when iPhones, walkie-talkies and bulletproof vests didn’t exist.

“We were told to bring a pocket full of dimes in case we needed to make a call,” he said. “They weren’t even giving out bullets; they had to buy their own along with a holster.”

Smith said he thinks God led him to become a police officer and said he thought being a deputy is what he was chosen to do.

“I’ve enjoyed helping people,” he said. “It’s easy to put people in jail, but what you do is try to help somebody to keep them from making a big mistake and ruining their life.”

Smith said he’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife and grandkids in retirement and is also looking forward to the risks that come with being a law enforcement officer.

“Every cop worries about that, an ambush attack, even in small-town Natchez,” he said, “That’s part of the job, your wife doesn’t know if you’re going to come home at night; the odds are 50/50.”

Even though he is hanging up his badge, Smith said he is more than willing to return to action if called upon.

“It’s the oath you take when you go in the military, and that oath never expires,” Smith said.